


Cooking With My Boyfriend

by spacepanda101



Series: Life In Lockdown: Minute by Minute [1]
Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, Drawing, Fluff, M/M, lockdown - Freeform, mention of the assault, wtfockdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23819539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacepanda101/pseuds/spacepanda101
Summary: It's been 5 months since the assault and they still haven't talked about it. Milan persuades Robbe to do so.
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Series: Life In Lockdown: Minute by Minute [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739296
Comments: 5
Kudos: 97





	1. 09:52

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen people asking for some sort of conversation about the assault during WTFockdown so this is my offering of that. Figuring out how to bringing it up naturally and how they'd talk about it was kind of difficult but I tried my best. Also this is a two parter! 2nd part will be up soon if you're reading this early on. Enjoy! :)

23/04/20 Donderdag 09:52

‘Any plans for the day?’ his mum asked as the two munched on bowls of breakfast. Robbe shrugged.

‘I’ve got some Maths work to finish and then History class at… 11?’ he replied, a little unsure of his schedule.

‘Are you doing anything this afternoon?’

‘Homework. And I was going to call Sander tonight… Did you want to do something?’

‘Okay. I suppose it can wait til tomorrow…’

‘What?’

‘It’s just… I’m running low on medicine and we’re out of fruit and I forgot to get that lasagne you like when I was out on Monday and I think I poured too much milk and-,’ Robbe quickly reached out and touched her wrist. 

‘Hey, it’s okay. Make a list and we can go after lunch yeah?’ he suggested.

This was a thing that had been happening more and more frequently in the past month. Which meant that by now Robbe had learnt how to calm his mum’s nerves and still act reasonably with the lockdown, but it didn’t stop it from hurting a little, and firing his anger at the damned virus.

His mother hadn’t responded to the suggestion and instead looked nervous. He knew what this meant.

‘Or I can just go? The pharmacy know who I am,’ She nodded shyly, whispering a ‘thank you’. 

She’d been gradually getting better at asking for help and Robbe had been getting better at knowing when to offer it. But sometimes it needed to really be spelled out.

They settled back into a comfortable silence. Robbe’s phone pinged for a message.

**_Milan:_ ** _ Come oonnn! I don’t give this advice out for free, you know? _

Robbe grinned. His former flatmate had been asking since the night before whether his advice had been helpful. In other words, had he had cyber sex with Sander and was it good?

**_Robbe:_ ** _ I said I’m not saying! It’s between Sander and me only. _

**_Milan:_ ** _ *and I. So you’re saying I should go pester him then? I have his number 😏😏 _

That did it. As much as he trusted and loved Milan, he didn’t want to put Sander at the mercy of his former flatmate’s pestering.

**_Robbe:_ ** _ Fine! It was good. _

**_Milan:_ ** _ 😱 _

**_Milan:_ ** _ Wait for real?? _

**_Robbe:_ ** _ Yeah… _

**_Milan:_ ** _ I'm calling you. I want to hear this. _

And sure enough not a second later, his phone was ringing.

'Who is it?' his mum asked, clearing her bowl away.

'Milan. One of the guys I lived with,' Robbe explained chuckling.

'Ah, the one with the girlfriend?'

'No, the other one.'

'Ooh can I meet him?'

There was no getting out of this call now. So he reluctantly answered the video call.

'Hey,'

'Hey!' the other face exclaimed.

'Hi!' Robbe's mum waved from behind her son.

'Oh,' the former flatmate began with a slightly disappointed tone but picked up very quickly. 'Good morning Mrs IJzermans!'

'Milan was it?' she asked, despite being told not 3 seconds prior. He nodded through the screen. 'Well it's nice to virtually meet you, and thank you for taking care of Robbe!’’

‘No worries! It’s a pleasure being his personal guru,’

‘Guru?’ his mum looked down at Robbe, raising an eyebrow. Robbe rolled his eyes.

‘He just gave me some advice when me and Sander were getting together,’ he quickly explained. A knowing look spread across his mum’s face.

‘Ah,  _ that _ kind of guru. Okay. Do I need to leave you boys alone then?’ she asked, picking up her book and phone.

‘If you want to protect your ears. Some of the stuff Robbe asks me about is  _ not _ PG,’ Milan inputted, causing Robbe to blush like a tomato and his mum to laugh.

‘Alright, I’ll be going then!’ his mum laughed as she left the kitchen.

‘So?’ Milan asked, leaving a few seconds for the woman to be out of hearing range.

‘So what?’

‘How was it?’

The red on Robbe’s face remained.

‘Good. I told you,’

‘Just good? Anything else?’

‘I don’t know… It was nice, shorter than I thought it’d be but…’

‘That hot huh?’

Robbe was at a loss for words. It was hot, certainly, but not something he wanted to discuss in detail with his former roommate, even if that roommate was his “gay guru”.

‘Alright, alright, keep your secrets then,’ Milan sighed once he realised he wouldn’t be getting anymore out of him. ‘How’s everything else then? Do you have online school now?’

Robbe nodded.

‘Yeah a few classes with zoom but it’s mostly the teachers emailing us work to do,’

‘That’s not too bad then right? You can do it at your own pace,’

Robbe hummed an acknowledgement.

‘What about you and Zoe? And Lisa’s back as well right?’’

‘Yeah, I think she’s coping the best out of all of us. But yeah, Zoe and I are fine… Er…’ he started as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

‘Yeah?’ Robbe egged on.

‘Well Zoe got a letter from the court,’ he started and alarm bells went off in Robbe’s brain. ‘It’s nothing to do with the case really, that’s all done,’ Milan quickly butted in, sensing Robbe’s worry. ‘It was just a courtesy letter about the virus and I suppose she’s probably still on the system to get things like that just in case. But um…’ he trailed off once again. The man had a nervous look about him, an emotion that bled through the screen. ‘I was wondering whether you and Sander had given any more thought to going to the police?’

And that was not what Robbe had been expecting. One part of him was relieved that the expression had nothing to do with any hiccups in the trial. But every other part felt as though he’d been prodded with a piping hot poker stick.

‘Um…’ he started, finding his voice. ‘We haven’t really talked about it since.’

The information was met with the same expression when he’d first confided in Milan about the attack.

‘Not once?’

He shook his head.

‘Okay I’ll save you the speech on why you should, but are  _ you _ okay with that? Honestly?’

Robbe opened his mouth to reply with a straight forward “yes” when he decided to really think about it. And the more he thought, the more unsure he was of his initial answer. The strain it’d put on their relationship was long gone and they’d been out on late night dates since. But he began spotting things. Like their late night dates are always in crowded places, their goodbye kisses in public were brief, they hadn’t once gone back to the pub or street where it’d happened - even if it meant taking a detour. Robbe recalled the occasional late nights, or early mornings, when he’d woken up in a cold sweat, curled up in a ball the same way he was on the street. And then it hit him that maybe he wasn’t as over it as he’d thought.

‘I don’t know,’ he quietly croaked, not wanting to admit his revelation. There was a sympathetic expression on Milan’s face.

‘I’m sure you know what’s best but I really think you need to at least talk it through? Even if you don’t report it. Although I do think that’s what’s best, if not for you then for others,’

Robbe nodded. Once again, his guru was right.

‘Yeah you’re right. I’ll try bring it up tonight I think.’

A large smile broke the tense atmosphere.

‘Guru Milan strikes again!’ The two laugh into silence until Robbe realises the time.

‘Thanks for that. But I’ve got some Maths homework due in like half an hour that I need to finish so…’ he explained, hovering his thumb over the hang up button.

‘Picking Maths over me? Ouch!’

‘No, I still have two big questions to finish and I need to prep for my History-,’

‘I’m kidding! But don’t be a stranger yeah?’

‘Yeah,’

‘Have fun!’


	2. 18:37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sander and Robbe talk about the assault.

18:37

The rest of the day continued. Robbe was able to get his Maths homework in on time and prepare for his History class with time to make tea. Once the class had ended, he set about making lunch for himself and his mum, using one of the recipes Zoe had shared with him the day before. And as he’d promised, whilst his mum cleaned up the plates and tidied the house, he set out to the pharmacy and local supermarket.

All throughout this time however, he couldn’t keep his mind off of the conversation with Milan. He knew it was something they needed to talk about but was never quite sure of how or when to bring it up. These were the thoughts that occupied his brain up until just gone 6 in the evening when Sander called.

‘Hey cutie,’ Sander said as Robbe propped his phone against the toaster in the kitchen.

‘Hey! I’m just making some dinner for my mama so I don’t have to leave you in the middle again,’ he explained, grabbing the tupperware of leftovers from lunch as well as a pack of quorn bacon and other condiments from the fridge.

‘What are you making?’ he heard through some rustling. He looked over and saw that Sander was resting him on a desk and pulling out a sketchbook. Robbe smirked a little as he put the items down.

‘Are you drawing me?’ he asked bashfully. Sander suddenly paused and looked up with a worried expression.

‘You don’t mind do you? Sorry I should’ve asked-,’

‘No no it’s fine! It’s fine, don’t worry,’ Robbe quickly interrupted.

‘Sorry. It’s just we got a new brief today and seeing you cooking gave me an idea,’

He hummed a question in response as he tore open the quorn packet. His boyfriend noticed the packaging.

‘Wait is that quorn? You’re not going vegetarian on me are you?’

Robbe laughed, grabbing a bottle of oil from the cupboard next to the oven.

‘No, well my mama’s convinced that the shops will run out of meat so she's insisting we try other options,’

The oil in the pan began to sizzle.

‘They’re stockpiling all the pigs now are they?’

‘It’s not too bad actually. It’s the 2nd time we got this. Smells a bit weird but tastes fine,’ he reviewed, placing 4 strips into the pan. He then picked up his phone, the tupperware, and two bowls, and brought them over to the countertop closest to the stove.

‘What else are you making?’ Sander asked.

‘Zoe sent me a recipe yesterday for this pasta salad so we made that for lunch,’ he said, showcasing the contents of the plastic box.

‘N’awh… Look at you!’ Sander cooed.

‘What?’

‘Cooking pasta and bacon... You didn’t even know how to turn on a hob almost 6 months ago. Soon you’ll be making better croques than me!’

Robbe grinned at the memory.

‘Can’t believe it’s almost 6 months,’ he sighed, the grin felt permanently stuck.

‘I hope we can spend the next 6 actually together,’ Sander replied back, ‘I’ve already got ideas for our 1 year.’

‘When  _ is _ our anniversary?’

‘12th of November,’ he stated confidently.

‘Which was…?’

‘When you came to my school,’

As memories of that day came back, so did that week, and how it ended, And that reminded him of what he’d been thinking about all day. But he didn’t want to just butt it into a conversation.

‘But we broke up like twice after that,’

He shrugged.

‘Well it was when I knew you were the one so the other times don’t matter,’

‘I thought that was when you saw me spraying the truck?’

‘There you go, we’ve already passed our 6 months then!’

‘Sander,’ Robbe started. This was the moment to bring it up. So he quickly turned the heat off. ‘We can’t keep ignoring it.’

The blonde boy’s face froze before resuming into a nonchalant, walls-up look that pained Robbe to see.

‘Ignoring what?’

He didn’t want to say it. The words burned his throat. But they needed to be released, otherwise they’d stay there forever.

‘The attack.’

The silence was deafening as memories rose. Frustration at the bikes, a kick in the stomach, spit raining down, the feeling of a brand new type of fear. He wanted to run away and push those memories as deep down as possible but he knew, like the words, if they were suppressed, they wouldn’t ever go away.

‘What about it?’ Sander’s tone was dead and unbothered.

‘Fuck, everything about it Sander! It’s been 5 months and we haven’t talked about it once other than the day after!’

‘What is there to talk about? Shit happens,’

‘Yes, shit happens but that kind of shit shouldn’t happen and to stop it from happening we need to tell people and report it,’

‘Reporting it won’t do anything! The police don’t care and have more important things to worry about right now than catching a bunch of homophobes,’

‘It doesn’t have to be right now, maybe when it’s all over. But even if they can’t catch them, just mentioning that it happened might help others in the future,’

‘Robbe. If we can’t provide any evidence, then quite frankly they don’t care and have more important cases to be looking at. Our bruises have healed, there were no witnesses, and if there was any CCTV, it would’ve been erased by now. They won’t listen or file it for the future,’

‘Then what are we meant to do? Just move on and forget about it?’

‘Yes! That’s exact-,’

‘Sander it’s been almost 6 months and we can’t even go back to that pub, let alone the street, I’m still getting nightmares, and… I just want to not worry when we’re out, that someone might start beating us up. I want us to be able to make out in the street a little bit too much without being scared. And I know that that’s a bigger problem than us, but I want to just not be so nervous holding your hand,’

An uncomfortable quiet fell between the two as Robbe stopped to gather his thoughts and Sander gave himself a moment to really listen and think.

‘What would make it better?’ His voice was softer than before.

‘I don’t know I…’ Robbe trailed off, really trying to rack his brain for an answer.

‘Okay how about this,’ Sander started, ‘Once this is all over, we’ll go back to the pub during the day and start from there?’

‘But why can’t we report it?’

‘Because! It’ll be no use-,’

‘But can’t we try? I mean…’ Robbe gulped. He knew Sander was still a bit tentative speaking about his past. ‘How do you know? They helped Zoe, they could help us?’

‘Robbe…’ he paused, wondering how to word his thoughts. ‘Having undiagnosed bipolar and a love of spray painting means I’ve been involved with the police too many times for my parents to let me leave Antwerp for uni. I’ve seen people like us report similar things, and they don’t bat an eyelid. They never did,’

The pleading look in Robbe’s eyes remained as the rest of his expression adapted to hearing the story and the image of others like them being swatted away. 

‘But surely if more people report the same thing, it’ll eventually start to mean something, right?’

A small, adoring smile formed on Sander’s face.

‘Okay even if it’s not the police. People think because we’re in 2020, that kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore. Noor literally said that the day after, that no one cares if you’re gay. When they clearly care enough to beat us up,’ Robbe noticed the more he said it, the easier it was becoming to say, ‘And it happens everywhere. Milan told me it’s happened to his friends in the Netherlands, there were those two girls in London a year or so ago. It’s not something only we can solve, I know, but the more people talk about it, the more they’ll have to listen. Right?’

He looked over at the screen and noticed the smile had vanished. The bleached boy seemed to be deep in thought. 

‘If you want to start with the pub though, that’s okay. And if you need sometime to think about it, that’s okay too. We’ve got loads of time right now. But I don’t think this is just about us anymore, not for me at least,’ he quickly added and turned his attention to dishing out the pasta, giving Sander a bit more time to think. When he looked up, the boy seemed to still be deep in thought so he went to place the pan and tub in the sink and picked up some cutlery on the way back. Sander still wasn’t responding. Maybe he’d said too much or pushed him too far.

‘I’m sorry if that was a bit pushy-,’ he started but Sander raised his hand to silence him and spoke a moment later.

‘No you’re right,’ and he paused as if words were still forming in his head. ‘You’re right. But I think I need time.’

Robbe nodded.

‘That’s okay. We’ve got time,’ he joked. He then looked down at the bowls and decided to give them both a bit of time and a break to recover from the conversation. ‘I’m just going to bring this to my mama, I’ll be right back,’

‘Are you not eating together?’

‘Eh we usually do but she’s not been doing too good today so...’ he explained and left the kitchen after making sure his boyfriend was satisfied with that answer.

He returned moments later to see Sander had returned to his drawing.

‘What was the new brief?’ he asked, changing the subject.

‘Hmm?’ Sander jumped, unaware that Robbe had returned.

‘The new brief you were sent?’

‘Oh. That. Um it’s called “Lockdown Life in the Digital Age”. Basically about how we can still do so many things in lockdown thanks to technology and we have to make a portfolio of different moments. I thought cooking with my boyfriend with be a good one to start,’

‘What are you cooking then?’

Sander put his pencil down and brought a pot noodle into the screen, causing Robbe to grin again.

They didn’t mention the attack again that evening, but both mentally agreed that talking about it had actually been long overdue. They spent the rest of the evening talking about everything and nothing. Once they’d made it back to their respective bedrooms and switched to the laptop, Sander took a picture of his drawing and sent it over. It was still a black and white sketch but Robbe fell in love with it. The perspective was as if someone was taking a picture from behind of Sander drawing, with a pot noodle to the left, and Robbe with a frying pan on a phone was slightly to the right. The actions were nothing special, but something about how homely the image was made his heart double over.

‘I wish the screen wasn’t there,’ he whispered, as he lay tucked under his covers. ‘I want to actually cook with you,’

Sander smiled.

‘Me too,’

‘Can I colour it in?’ Pillow talk was seeping into their veins.

‘What?’

‘Can I colour it in?’ he repeated, eyes getting droopy.

‘Of course you can. I’ll douse it in hand sanitizer and drop it off tomorrow,’ Sander started typing that as a to do on his phone. ‘And do you know what it’ll be called?’

‘Cooking with my boyfriend?’ Robbe suggested, stomach still flipping a little from the last word.

‘No. I think I’ll call it “Sander and Robbe; minute by minute”.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any artists want to draw the image Sander draws in this please do. I just lack the artistic skills to draw it myself!  
> (also apologies for the corny af ending)


End file.
